Are You the Coming One Luke 7:18-35
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Today marks sermon number 30 in our verse by verse journey through the Gospel of Luke that we have titled “The Son: from the manger to the cross.” In the text we have just read, we come back into a man we have not heard about since ch.3:20. That man is John the Baptist and in our text we don’t encounter him directly but rather indirectly through intermediaries he sends to Jesus. John sent these men to Jesus to ask him a question “Are you the coming one, or do we look for another.”
That question may seem odd coming from the man who heralded Christ coming, but we need to understand where and why this question was born from the heart of John and delivered to Jesus.
As Jesus ministry grew and expanded, the ministry of John the baptist became confined, literally. When John sends these messengers to Jesus, he is locked up in prison for condemning the marriage of Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, to Herodias who was once Herods Sister-in-law (previously married to Herods brother Phillip.)
And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.
John was locked up in the dungeon prison of Machaerus, which was a desert fortress-palace located on a desolate high ridge of the Dead Sea. This is still a place that can be visited today and the remains of the dungeons along with iron hooks still in the wall can be seen. This is the place where John the Baptizer would meet his demise by being beheaded and his head given on a silver charger to Herodias. (Mark 6:21 and following).
While John was sitting in prison, he was hearing all of the reports of Jesus ministry and to him, it seems they didn't quite line up with the message he had preached regarding Christ coming.
John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
You see, on one hand Jesus miracles fit into John’s prophecy regarding the work of the Holy Spirit but on the other, it didn't seem to fit his prophecies that Jesus would “burn the chaff with unquenchable fire”. Nothing even remotely had happened yet that lined up with that part of the prophecy.
So, Johns question of “Are you the coming one, or do we look for another” makes since coming from someone who was dealing with feelings of doubt and disappointment.
Doubting isn’t necessarily sinful, it is normal, healthy and sometimes a necessary part of christian growth. Doubts force us to pursue truth and find answers for tough questions. Someone once said “Doubts make deep divers out of novice swimmers.”
With all of this in mind, we get a sense for why John asked this question.
One might think that Jesus would have condemned John for being faithless and full of doubt but that is not what happens here no instead we will see that Jesus responds by:
Confirming his own ministry. (v.20-23)
Commending the character and ministry of John. (v.24-28)
Condemning a “generation of brats.” (v.29-35)
1.) Jesus confirms his own ministry. (v.21-23)
1.) Jesus confirms his own ministry. (v.21-23)
Jesus response to the men who came asking Jesus this question from John was to continue doing what he had been doing:
Healing the sick and afflicted,
casting out demons and
giving sight to the blind but at a furious pace for the next hour.
Once he finished with this display of his power, he informed these messengers from John that
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
This is in fulfillment of the old Testaments prophecies concerning the Messiah from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus phrasing here is purposeful, it alludes to four different places in the book of Isaiah that refer to Jesus.
Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Jesus would be sending these messengers back armed with unequivocal scriptural evidence that Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be. Though he did not address the lack of “fiery judgement” at this point.
He then offered a blessing in the form of a beatitude in v.23
In a sense he was telling John to stand tall because he would be blessed if he didn't allow his doubts to lead to him falling away. John did exactly that, he stood firm in his convictions all the way to the end of his life.
Application: Friends, John isn't the only person to ever feel doubts or disappointments with Jesus because He wasn't doing something the way they thought He would.
I’ve seen so many walk away because God didn’t answer a prayer the way the wanted, or didn’t give them the job they wanted, or the pregnancy they had prayed for, etc.
Frankly, the more self-focused culture becomes, the more we will see it. We need to live out the words of Jesus here
And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
2.) Jesus commends the character and ministry of John. (v.24-28)
2.) Jesus commends the character and ministry of John. (v.24-28)
After Jesus answers these men and sends them back to relay His response to John he turns to the crowd who had witnessed this interaction. Maybe he could here their whispers or sensed that what he had said might somehow diminish John and his ministry in their eyes. Jesus did not let this happen. He turns to the crowd and says:
When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.
But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’
A reed shaken in the wind is a metaphor for a person who lives an easy going lifestyle.
John was anything but this. He rejected “soft garments” and wore camels hair and a leather belt. He didn't live in a palace but outside. John the Baptist was anything but soft and easy going.
He was “more than a prophet” he himself was a fulfillment of divine prophecy. He was the messenger foretold to lead the way of Messiah’s coming.
“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.
Jesus went so far as to say that:
For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
John was the greatest man to ever live besides the Messiah himself. That’s a pretty grand statement.
But, notice it was given with a qualification.
This isn't meant to diminish the greatness of John. John came announcing the kingdom that was greater than his. The people of that Kingdom (the Kingdom of God) are greater than the one who announced it.
John and his ministry were greater than that of Abraham, Moses, Elijah. He was the greatest man to ever be born next to the Lord himself.
Jesus labeling John this way sets up a dichotomy between him and the crowd looking their noses down at him.
3.) Jesus condemns a “bratty”generation. (v.29-35)
3.) Jesus condemns a “bratty”generation. (v.29-35)
There were two different responses to Jesus commendation of John.
The common people- these were the outcasts, the non-elite who followed Jesus including the tax collectors. The phrase “justified God” means they acknowledged that he was right or pronounced God just. (ESV- “Declared God to be just.”
The religious leaders- rejected what was said because they didn't agree with John and had not been baptized by him. They didn't see themselves as needing the repentance he preached.
John’s ministry of Baptism had become a sort of “lightning rod” or “dividing line” in the nation.
His baptism required confession and repentance of sin in order to prepare for Messiah’s coming. A persons willingness or unwillingness told a lot about them. Interestingly it also seemed to be the reason many either embraced Jesus or rejected HIm.
The religious didn't see their need of repentance because they had placed all of their hopes on their merits. They were content with their self righteousness and because of it they were in the grip of sin.
These were the ones that Jesus was condemning here in 31-35.
This is often called “The parable of the brats” and as you read it, you understand why.
And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?
They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
But wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Jesus condemns them by saying a phrase that children in the streets would say to each other when they wouldn't join in games.
Jesus in a sense is calling them “bratty”.
He is essentially condemning them by saying that there is no pleasing them. That their self-righteousness was so ingrained that they couldn't receive wisdom from God.
Notice what he says:
John came and didn't eat bread or drink wine, you said he had a demon.
I come eating bread and drinking wine, you call me a glutton, a drunk and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. They were calling Jesus an apostate sinner.
There is no pleasing the super elite religous crowd. Jesus himself couldn't do it.
Application: Don’t allow ourself to become a religious brat.
Give examples.
It is a grace from God to be able to sense your need. To mourn over your sins, confessing them to God, repenting of them and receiving forgiveness. Then trying to keep a bunch of rules that weigh you down.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Jesus in condemning them sort of gives an autopsy of the condition of their souls. Even God himself couldn't meet all of their demands.u Bt, look at what Jesus says in v.35
But wisdom is justified by all her children.”
The only way to tell if someone is sent from God or not (like John and Jesus were) is to look at their “children”. The ministry of John produced genuine disciples who followed the Lord. The ministry of Jesus produces genuine disciples who love the Lord and follow him.
I can tell you from personal experience that the messages of John and Jesus are true because of what I’ve seen Christ do in my own life and in the lives of others.
Was Jesus the “Coming one”, his answer to John was yes, look at the evidence.
Talk about the evidence of Jesus being the savior of the world.